Some ducks love to lay eggs but do not know how to hatch them. Chicken lay eggs and hatch them too. But does the hen know what kind of eggs are being hatched if switched to another type of eggs (not chicken)? We made some experiment on this idea. When some of the hens in our barn are already starting to sit on their eggs, we took all the eggs of one and replaced them with duck eggs. The hen don't mind at all except for some usual reactions for the disturbance but eventually go on with the hatching duty for several days (at least 28 days).
Come the hatching/cracking of the ducks' eggs! Mother hen was very delighted and put on her best chicken voice to call on its chicks which this time are ducklings to go out of their nest. The ducklings followed the hen wherever they are led. But ducklings as they are, upon seeing a canal full of water, plunged into it without giving heed to their mother's call. The hen was shocked not knowing what to do following its chicks/ducklings on the side of the water calling on the top of its voice for the ducklings to come out of the water. What a funny sight it was! The hen accepted the abnormalities of its chicks/ducklings and continue to care for them like an ordinary hen do until such time that they are already ducks.
